Bosse Opposes Federal Banking Takeover

“Secretary Paulsen’s proposal to overhaul our antiquated financial bureaucracy is long overdue. But the sweeping increase in power planned for the Federal Reserve is absolutely going in the wrong direction. This 218-page proposal would hand power over our financial lives to the unelected and unaccountable. It would massively expand federal interference in the private sector, limit consumer choice, and nationalize the mortgage industry.

We need more capitalism and freer markets, not less. We need banks and businesses to face the consequences of their decisions, not be shielded from failure by politicians and bureaucrats. This proposal would stifle innovation and competition in banking, insurance, and other financial services, and threaten the financial privacy of all Americans. We don’t need socialized banking anymore than socialized medicine.”

Bosse Takes Earmark Pledge

Urges Fellow Republicans to Follow

(Hillsboro) Republican Grant Bosse today pledged to refuse seeking earmarks if elected to Congress, and urged his fellow Republicans to take a similar pledge.

“Congress is addicted to earmarks, and the only way to kick the habit is to go cold turkey,” Bosse said. “Paul Hodes campaigned against earmarks, but started asking Nancy Pelosi for them once he got elected.”

Earmarks are special projects attached to federal legislation at the request of individual Congressmen, often at the eleventh hour with no public debate or oversight prior to a vote. Congressional leaders often use procedural hurdles to prevent these secret projects from being removed from spending bills. The grassroots organization FreedomWorks is asking all candidates for Federal office to take a similar pledge.

“Earmarking is out of control in Washington. Efforts to reform earmarks have failed. It’s time to end them,” Bosse concluded. “Paul Hodes is a lost cause, but today I ask my fellow Republican challengers to swear off earmarks.”

For more information and a list of federal candidates who have taken the pledge, go to www.earmarkpledge.com.

Gold Star Mothers Day

The Union Leader reports on yesterday's ceremony.

Dispatch from Concord

We spent the morning with the Gold Star Mothers in Manchester. First, they held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Memorial in front of the Center of NH. Then, they inducted the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers at the National Guard Armory. To see those 15 women who have lost children to war was both heartbreaking and inspiring.

I wanted to stop into the 4th Annual Sportsmens Reach Banquet in Concord. This group brings together hunters, landowners, and wildlife managers to ensure a sustainable and healthy deer herd in New Hampshire.

Gold Star Mothers Day in Manchester

This morning, the Gold Star Mothers break ground on a new Memorial in Manchester.
10am, Stanton Plaza, in front of the Radisson.

Germany to Boycott Beijing Olympics

German Chancellor has announced that she will not attend the Beijing Olympics this summer.

As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.

The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games' opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown's determination to attend the Olympics.

I'll admit that I'm undecided on how to treat the Olympics in light of China's oppression of its own people. The latest calls to boycott have come in light of China's crackdown in Tibet, but the Communist government has routinely abused and oppressed its people since coming to power.

Do we boycott in protest, or attend with the intention of highlighting the regime's unacceptable behavior?

I'm not sure if either course would embarrass the Communist rulers in China to change their ways.

What do you think? I've posted a new poll.

From the News and Sentinel

U.S. Congressional Candidate Grant Bosse Pays Visit to Coos

By Alan Farnsworth

Republican Congressional candidate Grant Bosse visited Colebrook last Tuesday afternoon, March 4, as part of a two-day introductory campaign swing through the North Country. Starting the previous day, he toured Littleton, Lancaster, Berlin, and Gorham before visiting Colebrook.

A lifelong Republican, this is the Hillsboro native’s first run for political office, although he comes with plenty of political experience. After graduation from the Hillsboro-Deering school system, he attended Dartmouth College, where he was active in both the campus radio station and newspaper.

Mr. Bosse then began a successful career in radio, starting at WGIR-AM in Manchester and continuing at WTSL in Lebanon. In 1999, he left radio to become the Senior Legislative Assistant to the New Hampshire House Majority Office, where he could observe and learn the workings of the legislative system. After a year as press secretary and political director for Craig Benson’s gubernatorial campaign, he worked for five years on staff for Senator John Sununu, focusing on environmental and energy policies.

Mr. Bosse said he finally decided to run for office when the Republican party, and especially New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, seemed to lose its way and adopt some Democratic traits. “Both parties have shown a great disrespect for the taxpayers,” he said.

He went on to say that there has been a noticeable lack of growth nationally and when the nation slows down that affects the North Country. This is part of Mr. Bosse’s three pronged platform for his candidacy: free the economy, secure the borders, and win the war.

Mr. Bosse proposes more of a hands-off approach to the economy. The North Country has a rising elderly population combined with the falling school age and worker population, he said, making it harder to retain local students and workers. Efforts have to be made to free up local resources to make more jobs locally, but he dislikes Congress making market-based solutions which benefit only a few. Not enough candidate, he said, are willing to stand up for market capitalism.

Congress is not really serious about the illegal immigration problem, Mr. Bosse said. He supports the use of a fence as the “first real step toward the immigration solution,” because is has proved to work where it has been tried. A major effort had to made to make it easier to come to the U.S. legally rather than illegally, he said, and right now that is not the case.

Mr. Bosse supports “winning the war,” but to do that the Congress has to stop making the effort to fund the troops into a political game. He cited Rep. Hodes’ vote for an emergency defense appropriation complete with “pork barrel” provisions. When the Senate stripped it down to a “clean bill” with no extras, he said, Hodes refused to vote for it when reintroduced in the House.

He cautions that the war is not just the localized fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a global campaign against radical Islam. This is a war for very high stakes, he said, which the U.S. should win.

Mr. Bosse has already logged 2,000 miles over the past two weeks, including the two-day circuit in Coos County. He hopes to return to the North Country next month.

More power for the Fed?

This seems like it's going in the wrong direction:

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that Congress give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee financial market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the overall system.

The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the nation’s hodgepodge of financial regulatory agencies, which many experts say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until after they set off what is now the worst financial calamity in decades.

Democratic lawmakers are all but certain to say the proposal does not go far enough...

Reform and streamline financial oversight, yes. Broad new authority and financial SWAT teams, not so much.

Earmarks are in the Constitution?

Rep. Clyburn thinks Thomas Jefferson and John Adams wrote earmarks into the Constitution. Sen. DeMint disagrees:

Campaign Snapshot

Grant was the featured speaker at the Reagan Network in Concord, and presented the group with a framed campaign poster, which Ronald Reagan signed for Grant during a campaign stop in Hillsboro in 1980.

From the Valley News

This week's Primary Source column in the Valley News explains why we should expect different results in 2008 than in 2006:

Numbers Game

New Hampshire Democrats were exuberant about their sweeping gains in the 2006 elections, but some savvy Republicans are pointing out that turnout in a presidential election year may be the key factor in November.

Grant Bosse, a former Sununu aide who is one of four Republicans running to unseat U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., notes that more than 327,000 voters turned out in the 2004 2nd District congressional race, which coincided with the John Kerry-George Bush contest. By contrast, only about 205,000 people voted in 2006, an off-year election.

Hodes actually won more votes in 2004 (125,280) when he lost to then-incumbent Charlie Bass, than Hodes won in 2006 (108,743) when he defeated Bass in a rematch.

“My main point is the Democrats didn't necessarily get all sorts of new voters out. The point is Republican voters stayed home,” Bosse said of 2006.

Hodes is the last to know on REAL ID

Welcome to the party, Paul.
Paul Hodes is the last one to learn that REAL ID might be a problem.

Congressman Paul Hodes (D-Concord) said, "there are legitimate concerns about the effects of this program and many states across the country have refused to participate in Real ID."

Hodes added that he will seek a Congressional investigation into the impact of the Real ID Act.

"Therefore, I am calling on the House Government and Oversight Committee to hold hearings on the impact of Real ID on the states as well as the serious privacy concerns this law raises."

Really? Hearings? Way to take a stand! "Let's hold hearings!" I had thought opposition to REAL ID was just about the least controversial issue in New Hampshire these days. I'm glad Paul Hodes has finally decided to pay attention to it. Too bad he doesn't know enough to have an opinion yet.

Great news on REAL ID

Breaking news from PolitickerNH.

Hodes Blocking His Own Border Security Bill

Bosse urges open vote on SAVE Act

(Hillsboro) Republican challenger Grant Bosse today urged Congressman Paul Hodes to stand up to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and bring a bill he co-sponsored to the House floor for an up or down vote. Hodes is one of 147 co-sponsors of the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE Act, H.R. 4088), which Pelosi has refused to bring before the House of Representative knowing that it has enough support to pass.

“Paul Hodes has voted against funding the border fence, and has offered nothing but empty promises on immigration,” Bosse said. “If Paul Hodes is serious about border security, he can prove it by bringing his own bill to the House floor for an up or down vote.”

The SAVE Act would provide an additional 8,000 border patrol agents, fund border security improvements, and expand the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism along the northern and southern borders. 181 House Members have already signed a discharge petition to bring the bipartisan immigration bill to the House floor since Speaker Pelosi refuses to schedule it for consideration. 218 signatures are necessary to force Pelosi to consider it.

“Paul Hodes needs to stand up for border security and stand up to Nancy Pelosi,” Bosse added. “If he can’t support his own bill, he’ll prove that his support for border security is an empty promise.”

Second Amendment Support

Constitutional rights shouldn't be subject to public opinion, but I'll take it.

Blue Ribbon Foolishness

When New Hampshire Democrats want to push a really bad idea, first they appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission or Study Committee to say what a good idea it is.

Such is the case with their latest attacks on free speech.  The next atrocious idea is public financing for state elections.  They now want to use your money to subsidize politicians.  And they also want to use your money to show how compassionate they are.

Equal Time

Yesterday, the Union Leader blasted Carol Shea-Porter for using our own money to try to buy our votes.  Today, they spread the blame.

From the Concord Monitor

The Concord Monitor was kind enough to print my Letter to the Editor this morning.

We dedicated the Hillsboro Post Office last week to Officer Jeremy Todd Charron.

Jeremy was a year or two behind me in school. While we weren't especially close, our families know each other well. The Charron family has been an important part of Hillsboro all my life.

Jeremy was truly dedicated to serving his community, state and nation. He was a Marine. He was an officer with the Epsom Police Department. And one August morning more than 10 years ago, he was shot and killed in the line of duty.

Jeremy was an extraordinary young man. What has always struck me is not just the sacrifice he made during what should have been a routine check on a parked car. It's that every routine stop for our police officers carries the same risk. They accept this danger to keep us safe.

Sen. John Sununu joined us for the ceremony. At the request of the Hillsboro selectmen, he introduced legislation to name the Hillsboro Post Office for Charron. I was working in his office at the time and can attest to the time and energy that John personally used to guide that bill into law. President Bush signed the bill the day after Christmas. It was one of my proudest days working for the Senate.

We remember Jeremy Todd Charron not just for his ideals but for the dedication to put those ideals into action.

Thank you, Jeremy.

GRANT BOSSE

Hillsboro

Freedom Doesn't Cry

Watching this video, helps Operation HomeFront.

Hattip: Susan Peterson, Hugh Hewitt, and half the blogosphere.

Paul Hodes Wants to Kill Puppies!

Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but lawsuit abuse and the failure to enact reasonable tort reform is having some bizarre consequences, including dead puppies.

I wish I were kidding. No, Paul Hodes doesn't want to kill puppies.

John McCain puts the Mortgage Bailout into perspective

Thanks to Ankle Biting Pundits, who pass along John McCain's recent comments critical of a taxpayer funded bailout:

Drawing a sharp distinction with the Democratic presidential candidates, Senator John McCain, warned Tuesday against hasty government action to solve the mortgage crisis, saying “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”

But Mr. McCain’s remarks on Tuesday represented a stark tonal shift from the increasing calls for helping homeowners, as he faulted not only borrowers who engaged in risky lending, but suggested that some homeowners engaged in dangerous financial practices.

“Some Americans bought homes they couldn’t afford, betting that rising prices would make it easier to refinance later at more affordable rates,” he said.

Mr. McCain argued that even during the ongoing crisis, the vast majority of mortgage holders continued to make their payments.

“Of those 80 million homeowners, only 55 million have a mortgage at all, and 51 million homeowners are doing what is necessary — working a second job, skipping a vacation and managing their budgets to make their payments on time,” he said. “That leaves us with a puzzling situation: how could 4 million mortgages cause this much trouble for us all?”

Barack Obama wants to spend $10 billion of your money on a bailout. Hillary Clinton has increased the bidding to $30 billion. Nobody knows how expensive the bailout would be by the time Congress is finished.

2017

According to the latest Trustees Report, Social Security will start paying out more money than it collects in 2017. That means that Congress will have ever smaller amounts of money to take from Social Security to pay for other programs. Once the program starts drawing from the Treasury instead of paying into it, Congress will be forced to keep increasing taxes to support current spending.

Or we can do something now to preserve Social Security for the next generation.

Dispatch from Nashua

Great day in Nashua. I visited a number of businesses, from Main Street to Spit Brook Road. Parts of this economy are really strong, but the monetary issues, such as inflation, fuel prices, and the mortgage sector, are preventing capital investment and risk taking.

The Nashua Chamber of Commerce held their annual Legislative Dinner at the Crowne Plaza, and the Nashua Federation of Republican Women also had their monthly meeting there. I had a chance to attend both, speaking to the Federation.

And the Sox won in extra innings. All in all, a great day.

Sweet Sixteen Challenge: 7 Days Left

7 days until the First Quarter Deadline.

Free speech in action

Lobbyists are free to give political contributions, Bob Clegg is free to accept them, and Jennifer Horn is free to complain about them:

Fellow, Republican candidate Grant Bosse, of Hillsboro, said that as a former journalist and a defender of the First Amendment, he believes candidates should be judged not on their donations, but their actions.

"Bob Clegg is free to raise money wherever he chooses. The voters get to decide whether any of these donations were for sale,'' Bosse said.

The first priority of the next Congress is to eliminate earmarks or special pet projects slipped into federal spending bills, Bosse continued. "We've got to root out the real corruption in Washington, those earmarks often created in exchange for campaign donations,'' he added.

Play Ball!

Name That Party!

It's time for Glenn Reynolds' favorite political game show: Name That Party!

Some of us have an easier time getting credit these days

There's a saying that the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a television camera. They may have to amend that saying to include Senator Obama, who appears to have a habit of seeking credit for others' work. No wonder he's Paul Hodes pick for President:

With colleagues in Congress quick to claim credit where it is due, word moves quickly when undue credit is claimed.

"If it happens once or twice, you let it go," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), an Obama supporter. "If it becomes the mantra, then you go, 'Wait a minute.' "

Immigration is a case in point for Obama, but not the only one. In 2007, after the first comprehensive immigration bill had died, the senators were back at it, and again, Obama was notably absent, staffers and senators said. At one meeting, three key negotiators recalled, he entered late and raised a number of questions about the bill's employment verification system. Kennedy and Specter both rebuked him, saying that the issue had already been resolved and that he was coming late to the discussion. Kennedy dressed him down, according to witnesses, and Obama left shortly thereafter.

"Senator Obama came in late, brought up issues that had been hashed and rehashed," Specter recalled. "He didn't stay long."

Just this week, as the financial markets were roiling in the wake of the Bear Stearns collapse, Obama made another claim that was greeted with disbelief in some corners of Capitol Hill. On March 13, Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, unveiled legislative proposals to allow the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee new loans from banks willing to help homeowners in or approaching foreclosure. Obama and Clinton were in Washington for a day-long round of budget voting, but neither appeared at the housing news conference.

Yet Obama on Monday appeared to seek top billing on Dodd's proposal.

"At this moment, we must come together and act to address the housing crisis that set this downturn in motion and continues to eat away at the public's confidence in the market," Obama said. "We should pass the legislation I put forward with my colleague Chris Dodd to create meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages so that Americans facing foreclosure can keep their homes."

Dodd did say that Obama supported the bill, as does Clinton. But he could not offer pride of authorship to the candidate he wants to see in the White House next year.

Paul Hodes isn't known to miss a press conference himself, whether or not he had anything to do with the issue.

Then again, it looks like Senator Clinton has been exaggerating a little this week as well.

Listen to the Commanders on the Ground

Paul Hodes has been claiming lately that General Petraeus somehow endorses the Hodes "retreat and defeat" strategy in Iraq. I wonder is he'll listen to Petraues now?

The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind Sunday's bombardment of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Gen David Petraeus told the BBC he thought Tehran had trained, equipped and funded insurgents who fired the barrage of mortars and rockets.

The ongoing battle in Iraq has been made longer, harder, and costlier because of Iran. Hodes may not acknowledge this, but it shows that the battle in Iraq is part of a broader war against Islamic Fascism. Iran is on the other side, and we can not afford a government that ignores this basic fact. Hodes would have us leave Iraq before securing that country from its hostile neighbors, creating a more dangerous world.

Hattip: Instapundit

Sweet Sixteen Challenge

The FEC's First Quarter Reporting deadline is eight days away. Help us reach our Sweet Sixteen Challenge of raising $16,000.

Click here to contribute by credit card, or below with PayPal:

Please include employer and occupation for contributions over $200.
Bosse for Congress can not accept contributions from corporations or foreign nationals.

Thank you for your generous support.

Government Problems; Market Solutions

For some reason, politicians in the City of Philadelphia thought they could do a better job providing wireless Internet access than the private sector. They were wrong:

It was hailed as Internet for the masses when Philadelphia officials announced plans in 2005 to erect the largest municipal Wi-Fi grid in the country, stretching wireless access over 135 square miles with the hope of bringing free or low-cost service to all residents, especially the poor.

Municipal officials in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and 10 other major cities, as well as dozens of smaller towns, quickly said they would match Philadelphia’s plans.

But the excited momentum has sputtered to a standstill, tripped up by unrealistic ambitions and technological glitches. The conclusion that such ventures would not be profitable led to sudden withdrawals by service providers like EarthLink, the Internet company that had effectively cornered the market on the efforts by the larger cities.

Now, community organizations worry about their prospects for helping poor neighborhoods get online.

In Tempe, Ariz., and Portland, Ore., for example, hundreds of subscribers have found themselves suddenly without service as providers have cut their losses and either abandoned their networks or stopped expanding capacity.

As the costs of expanding wireless networks drop, wireless coverage will expand from cities to rural areas. We should remember Philly's folly when politicians promise to use the power of government to expand wireless access in New Hampshire.

Meet the New Press

Grant joins Doug and Skip from Granite Grok on WEMJ's "Meet the New Press."

Hodes Flips Back on Iraq

(Concord) Hillsboro Republican Grant Bosse today called out Democrat Paul Hodes for switching his position on Iraq twice in the same week. Last week, Hodes changed his Iraq strategy by calling for Iraqis to "step up" before U.S. troops could be withdrawn from the region. Yesterday on WMUR's "Close Up New Hampshire" program, Hodes switched back to calling for an arbitrary deadline for U.S. withdrawal.

"Less than a week after changing his tune on Iraq, Paul Hodes has rejoined the 'retreat and defeat' chorus," Bosse said. "I feel sorry for Paul Hodes. Public opinion is shifting on this issue, and it's tough for a pandering politician to keep up."

Hodes has a history of contradictory statements on Iraq:
• In July, 2006, Hodes promised not to withhold funding for "troop safety and security" and said equipping the troops was "the highest priority", but voted against an emergency troop funding bill in 2007.
• During his campaign, Hodes said "I want a new direction" in Iraq, but then belittled General David Petreaus's proposed "Surge" strategy as "too little, too late."
• In July, 2006, Hodes said it was simplistic to set a "date certain" for withdrawal, but on WMUR, Hodes again called for just such a deadline.

"We are making progress in Iraq and globally in the war against Islamic fascism. Paul Hodes wants to give up on that progress," Bosse concluded. "New Hampshire deserves a Congressman whose opinions on national defense don't shift in the political wind."

Video Diary

Grant Bosse addresses New Hampshire High School students at the YMCA's Youth and Government Program at the State House in Concord.

No Laffing Matter

Dan Mitchell at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity wraps up his video series on the Laffer Curve:


I've worked with Dan during my time in the Senate. He's a good guy, and a great ambassador for lower taxes and smaller government. The video takes a while to load, but Dan makes macroeconomics about as interesting as it can get.

"Rising, He restored our life."

I come from a Christmas family. The folks always go overboard decorating the house, including a huge Santa collection, and invite half the town over for their annual Open House in December. But it's important to remember that on the Christian calendar, Easter is a far more significant day.

On this holiest of days, we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. On Christmas, we celebrate his birth, and on Good Friday, we mourn his death and mark his sacrifice for our salvation. I've always drawn from the lessons of Christ's life on earth. For while he is the Son of God, he was also a man. In National Review, Jerry Bower writes an excellent essay on Christ's death and resurrection, not from scripture, but from history:

Jesus was a politically sophisticated man. He knew what was coming.

He faced the executioners bravely. He accepted, even embraced his death, and overcame it. By doing this he took the stinger out of Jerusalem and Rome. Behind all the taxes and tolls, price controls, and monopolies, and behind the governors and tetrarchs and consuls and emperors, lurked a tax-hungry greed, and the greed was backed up by the threat of death. The emperor’s colossal ego was fed by the people of Rome; the Romans were fed by the bread and circuses; the bread and circuses were fed by the armies; the armies fed on the captive peoples, and the captive peoples who didn’t like it were fed to the lions, or (even worse) the crucifix.

Such it has always been. When tyrants rule, money flows uphill and pain flows down. At the top is always a Caesar (or his etymological cousins, a Kaiser or a Czar). In the modern age, they usually make a hypocritical nod to democracy by calling themselves “President,” but the suffix “for life” tells us what’s really going on. At the bottom is the enemy of the state and what awaits him is a cross, or a gas chamber, perhaps a syringe filled with poison, or the observation section of a rape room and then a trip to the paper shredder. Every tyrant rules the same way: through threat of torture, humiliation, and death.

But when Jesus said, “Go ahead, do your worst,” and, as his early followers testified, overcame death, he ripped the stinger out, rendering the whole wasp twitching and dying from tip to tail. When his followers chose the cross as their symbol, they seemed to be turning “the world upside down,” but they weren’t; they were turning the upside-down world, finally, right-side-up. To get the flavor, imagine a revolutionary-era Frenchman displaying a tiny replica of the guillotine, or modern Iraqis wearing little rape-room replicas around their necks, or industrial paper shredders. Imagine Russian dissidents making the sign of the syringe, or think of Holocaust survivors who display their tattooed identification numbers with pride instead of shame. This is what the early followers of Jesus did with the Roman cross.

I recommend reading the whole thing. May you and yours have a most Blessed Easter.

Campaign Snapshot

Newport Village Pizza












Wake Up New Hampshire on WNTK, New London












Speaking to Eighth Graders at Sunapee Middle School












Visiting with Speaker Harold Burns in Whitefield












Plowing the runway at Berlin Airport

Gold, Blue, and Red

The indispensable Susan Peterson passes along a couple of great links:

A Blue Star Mother's Thoughts

Red Sox Visit Troops in Japan

Good News on REAL ID

This morning, the Union Leader reports that the Department of Homeland Security may be preparing to back down on REAL ID:

Yesterday, the federal agency granted Montana an extension, even though state officials didn't ask for one and insist they will not adhere to the Real ID law.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer told The Associated Press that DHS "painted themselves in a corner."

A fourth state, New Hampshire, has asked to be exempted, but Homeland Security officials have not found that letter legally acceptable, so the Granite State has not received an extension.

Here's a bizarre twist:

Yet hours after Chertoff sent those letters yesterday, DHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker wrote to the attorney general of Montana, saying that even though the state was explicitly not seeking an extension, it would be granted one anyway. Baker reasoned the state's new license security measures already met many of the Real ID requirements anyway.

"I can only provide the relief you are seeking by treating your letter as a request for an extension," Baker wrote.

Schweitzer, Montana's Democratic governor, said his state had not backed down.

"We sent them a horse. If they choose to call it a zebra, that is their business," said Schweitzer.

So New Hampshire's request for an extension is denied, but Montana gets an extension without asking for one. As long as my State of New Hampshire driver's license gets me on a plane in Manchester, I don't really care. REAL ID is unnecessary, wasteful, and potentially very harmful. After this week's revelations at the State Department, you'd think Senator Obama would be a bit more outspoken on this issue.

I'm thankful we have a number of strong voices looking to repeal this law, led by our own Senator Sununu.

On the Job

Just finishing up another trip through Coos County. I was touring
Berlin Airport, and the wind today keeps pushing snow onto the runway,
so we got out there in the plow and cleared it off. there is no such
thing as a routine day on the campaign trail.

Heading back through Grove ton, and then home for the Easter weekend.
In case I don't update much this weekend, have a great Easter.

Trying to help, Congress has made economic situation worse

Grant outlines his plans to improve the economy in this morning's Union Leader:

Trying to help, Congress makes economic situation worse

By GRANT BOSSE

THE STIMULUS package Congress recently passed will send out checks from $300 to $1,200 to American taxpayers. Congress has finally stopped the pretense of pork barrel projects and is now trying to buy our votes directly. While this extra cash will come in handy during this economic downturn, it certainly won't have any significant effect on the economy as a whole.

In fact, the stimulus package was also loaded down with hundreds of earmarks, special pet projects put in to help incumbents back in their districts. Overall, the only economic activities this stimulus package seemed designed to encourage were campaign contributions.

High taxes, unfunded mandates and overregulation are slowing the economy, which is having trouble keeping pace with runaway federal spending. Congress's appetite for our dollars is taking a big bite out of the private sector. If Congress were serious about encouraging investment and growth it would lessen its interference in our economy and stop punishing small businesses that are trying to grow into big businesses.

The top two threats to prosperity today are inflation and a growing credit crisis. Both have little to do with the true strength of the American economy and everything to do with our money supply. In 1963, groundbreaking economist Milton Friedman wrote, "Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." He was correct then, and now.

The Federal Reserve's recent paranoia about deflation led it to overreact, and we're seeing higher prices as a result. Politicians pushing for easier access to credit handed out incentives for lenders to make bad loans and for homeowners to make bad decisions. Politicians trying to protect these folks from the consequences of their bad decisions risk spreading the pain of bad loans to the entire country, through a taxpayer-funded bailout.

Congress has the ability to address both problems, but not by continuing its current policies. Ending our bloated farm subsidies, specifically the ethanol boondoggle, would not only reduce federal spending significantly, but it would remove the perverse incentives in our agricultural sector, which are driving up the price of bread, milk, meat and vegetables other than corn.

Congress also can help bring energy prices down by scrapping the failed policies that have helped drive them up. We should allow responsible exploration of domestic oil reserves. We should remove the regulatory roadblocks that stand in the way of new oil refineries, the bottleneck in our transportation system that makes gas prices so volatile. And we should permit the construction of new nuclear power plants, which have the potential to provide safe and clean electricity.

The greatest benefit Congress can provide is to finally control federal spending. Our mounting national debt threatens our status as the safest place to invest in the world. Congress' unwillingness to acknowledge the massive unfunded obligations of Medicare and Social Security will leave the next generation with a massive tax bill. These fiscal time bombs will not be defused with a $300 check.

The American economy is the strongest engine of economic growth in history. It has propelled our country and much of the world to a quality of life undreamt of a century ago. And it is because of market capitalism.

Capitalism has consequences, sometimes painful. But government efforts to protect us from those costs are almost always far more harmful. So, thanks, Congress, for trying to help. But please stop because we can't afford any more of your kind of generosity.

Grant Bosse is a Republican candidate for Congress from New Hampshire's 2nd District. He lives in Hillsborough, and can be contacted at www.Bosse2008.com.

From the Hippo Press

First time on the trail
Grant Bosse says he’d fix government
By Alec O'Meara aomeara@hippopress.com

After spending five years on Sen. John Sununu’s staff as a specialist in environmental and energy policy in Washington, Hillsboro native Grant Bosse has moved back to the state and recently announced his candidacy for New Hampshire’s Second District seat in Congress. The election will be held Nov. 4. Bosse was formerly a news anchor for WGIR and was press secretary for Craig Benson’s campaign for governor.

Q: Why do you want to run?
Congress is broken, and I’d like to help fix it. ... As a reporter here in Manchester and up in Lebanon, I worked with local boards ... and saw community members get involved .... At the state level, I worked for some remarkable men and women at the Statehouse who were serving their communities for $100 a year. And, at the federal level, I spent five years working with Senator Sununu, and I’ve seen a Republican Congress lose its way in the need for earmarks and back-room deals, and a Democratic congress take over and adopt all the same bad habits and invent some new ones. Just yesterday they passed an ethics bill in Congress and they had to break House rules to pass the ethics bill because the more stringent version that Republicans wanted had the votes to pass. In fact it had passed, and they would have banged the gavel and let it pass, but Nancy Pelosi didn’t like how the bill turned out so she held the vote open so she could change the results of that vote and get her own watered-down ethics bill through. If you have to change the rules to get the ethics bill passed, I think it’s time to change who we send to Washington.

Much was made in the 2006 elections about the shift in political ideology within the state. A lot of Republicans were voted out, a lot of Democrats voted in. Why do you feel that happened?
Well, 2006 was obviously a high-tide year for the Democrats. They did very well, and I congratulate them. I don’t think they’ve governed particularly well since, either at the federal level or at the state level. In 2006, we saw Republican voters and independents who normally vote for Republicans frustrated in the direction of the party, and a lot of them didn’t show up to vote. … but I don’t think the state has changed fundamentally. I’ve seen a lot of elections in this state and we have wide swings in our mid-term elections. Huge Republican years in 1994 and 2002 and huge Democratic years in ’98 and 2006. Republicans didn’t show up to the polls.

Why didn’t they show?
They were discouraged with the party. They felt that things hadn’t changed. And based on the way the Democrats have run things in the past year, there isn’t much of a difference. They are still abusing power, they are still shutting down debate, making their own rules and not addressing their core priorities, which I see as a strong national defense, securing our borders, and freeing the economy from taxes, mandates and regulations.

Have you held an elected office before?
No. I’ve been a delegate to the state convention, but no major elected office.

Does that help or hurt you?
I don’t think either. I think all the candidates bring a range of experience. ... One of my opponents has been a talk show host and a columnist. Another was an attorney and an active-duty officer. … We each bring a range of experiences, but while I haven’t held office before, I actually have more experience in Congress than all of my opponents combined, including Paul Hodes. So I’ve seen how they do things, I see what’s gone wrong, and I know how to fix it.

What will you be fighting for?
My top priority is to reform the earmark process. Actually, I don’t want to reform the earmark process, I want to abolish it. ... We’ve seen rapid economic growth over the last six or seven years, but the only thing stronger than the American economy’s ability to generate growth is Congress’s appetite to spend our money, and the economy is bucking under the weight of taxes, mandates and over-regulation. I think part of that process is the corrupt earmark system that allows Congress to spend money on their pet projects without accountability or oversight, without the ability to amend them in the light of day, and even though some good projects get through, it’s at the price of many more bad projects. If a project is worth funding, if it is worth our federal government spending our money on it, then it is worth doing so publicly.

What would you be bringing to the table, as far as discussions on foreign policy go?
I think we need a strong national defense that is aggressive in our struggle against Islamo-fascism. This is a global ideology that wants to bring a dark age upon the world.
— Alec O’Meara

Dispatch from Lancaster

Busy day. So busy that I didn't get a chance to recharge my laptop from 8am until now. New London, Newport, Sunapee, Claremont, North Haverhill, and now the Coos County GOP in Lancaster. Tomorrow, we're in Littleton and throughout Coos County.

Filling a Hero's Shoes

Susan Peterson of NH Blue Stars Moms asked me to pass this along:

Filling a Heroes Uniform
By Debbie Lee
Gold Star Mom
 
I began my morning with my normal routine of making a pot of coffee and turning on FOX news to see the days issues. This morning President Bush was addressing this nation and remembering the sacrifices and the successes that this nation has experienced for the past five years since the War on Terror began in Iraq.
 
I remember that day well and knew this would be a very personal war to me. My oldest son Kristofer was one of "The few, the proud, the Marines." My son-in-law Christopher was an Officer serving in the Army and was already on his way to Iraq, my youngest son Marc was in BUDS training to become a Navy SEAL, my brother Jim was in the Air Force Reserves and I had cousin who was an Officer in the Marines. I had no idea at that point how personal and emotional this war would be.
 
Each one of these young men served in different branches of the Military, wore a different uniform, went to different lengths to train and prepare to be the warriors they are. I have pictures of each one of them in their different uniforms both dress and cammies. It is true there is something special about a man in uniform.
 
My daughter-in-law, Maya, had recently shipped Marc's uniforms to me. I've just picked them up off of the bed to hang them in the closet. As I pick it up the tears began to stream down my cheeks as I think of the Hero, my son, who wore it. I bring it close to my nose and take a deep breath hoping that by some odd chance I can still catch a hint of his smell on the garment. My mind wanders as I remember the tall, dark and very handsome young man who was the youngest of my 3 children, my baby, who filled this uniform so well.
 
Marc Alan Lee was the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq 8-2-06. He was one of the sacrifices that the President had talked about this morning as he addressed the nation. I personally know the cost and pain of war and yet still believe the war is worth fighting, the War is worth winning.
 
That extremely hot August day in 2006, Marc was wearing a different uniform than the one I'm holding. He had his desert cammies on along with well over 150 lbs of gear and ammunition. He was the big gunner for his platoon and his teammates retold the stories of how he carried the M60 without a sling. They had never seen anything like that and were amazed at his strength.
 
They were in the biggest battle since the war began and had been in the firefight for 2 hours when Marc single handedly stood up in the direct line of fire and shot off over 100 rounds of ammunition. Three times that day Marc would stand out in the direct line of fire to defend his buddies, for you, for me, for this nation. Marc was a young man who selflessly gave his life because he valued others lives more important than his own.
 
I look at this uniform flat, lying there on my lap, empty. The fabric isn't anything special, what made it special was the hero who filled it. He filled it with determination, humor, love, commitment, courage, faith, and hope. No one could ever fill this uniform like he did. It is a reminder of who he was. I will display it in my "Heroes" room, to pay tribute and honor Marc. As a Mother I am so proud of Marc's sacrifice that he gave in Ramadi. He was one of those who made Al Anbar province one of the success stories of the War on Terror.
 
Where do we get such brave men to fill these uniforms? Marc's name means "Mighty Warrior" and God designs each one of us for a certain purpose and to wear a specific uniform. Our men and women in the Armed forces are designed that way. Each one of my family members who served filled their uniforms in there own unique ways, yet the character qualities duplicated themselves, honor, courage, determination, commitment, love, faith, hope. Each one of them started fulfilling their calling by entering a recruiting office. Their recruiters coached and counseled them to accomplish their goals and dreams. It is appalling to me to watch the news as the anti-war, anti-American crowd continues to attack these recruiting offices. I was just in DC last week with Move America Forward to release our "Sedition Report" that reveals a pattern of bombings, broken windows, shootings, and destruction of recruiting offices in over 42 cities. The report can be viewed at MoveAmericaForward.org.
 
It angers and repulses me that these hateful, violent, aggressive "peace activists" continue to say they support the troops. If this is how they "Support them," I would hate to see their actions if they didn't? They continue to tell us that our troops are liars, murder's, and rapists. How dare them dishonor my sons name or his memory by telling their lies to accomplish there agenda for the war.
 
I was embedded with the 1-4 CAV in Iraq at Christmas and I saw our troops fill their uniforms with the same brave, courageous, noble and professionalism that both my sons Marc and Kristofer did. I am proud of the character they displayed and the determination they showed. There voices echoed over and over that this war is worth fighting and it is winnable.
 
As a Navy SEAL, Marc endured the notorious "Hell week" and trained intensely for 2 years before he was deployed. When I met with President Bush he said the SEALS were "the elite of the elite." It is the unique individual who can survive the intense training to become a SEAL and wear the uniform. The preparation is intense and much is required from them. Marc was ready, trained and prepared to fill the uniform and accomplish what was required of him when he deployed to Iraq. His Instructors knew that, his Officers new that, his teammates knew that, I knew that and God knew that.
 
I know that day that he left this earth he was escorted into Heaven by the Angles, and I will see him again. I also know that I have a uniform that I must fill. It's different than Marc's yet I am also called to be a warrior in another battle. Just as Marc was prepared by the intense training for the battles that lie ahead, God has also prepared me. The previous struggles and trials of life had convinced me that I didn't have the strength in myself to succeed. God had proved his character over and over to me during the "Hell weeks" of life, and I knew he was my strength and that he had trained and equipped me to succeed in the battle of grief.
 
Just as this past 5 years in Iraq we have seen sacrifice and we have seen successes. Life is the same way, but we must remember that it's worth fighting for and worth winning. Do you know where your uniform is? Are you willing to fill it? Do you know who gives you the strength? Are you willing to stand in the gap and fight the battles that you are asked to? We are all blessed to live in America and enjoy the freedoms that we have because of all of those who have fought for those freedoms.
 
Please as we reflect today on the 5^th anniversary of the War on Terror, join with me to honor Marc and all of those sons and daughters, husbands and wives, who have given the ultimate sacrifice and their families. They stood to the end for their brothers at arms, will you stand with me and carry on and fight for those who continue to serve and for this country?
 
Tomorrow would have been Marc's 30^th Birthday. Just before Marc deployed to Iraq he came home for his 28^th Birthday and we celebrated at the Royals/White Sox Spring training game. After the 7^th inning the reader board displayed my wishes to him "Happy 28^th Birthday Marc. Have a safe deployment.Love Mom!" I was asked to throw out the first ball tomorrow at the Royal's/Brewer's game in his honor. I will be celebrating tomorrow the amazing kid who filled that Heroes uniform with all that he was. I know that if he could he would send me a message on the reader board saying, "I love you Mom, have a safe deployment."

Hodes Flip Flops on Iraq

Bosse Urges Hodes to support American victory

(Newport) Hillsboro Republican Grant Bosse today challenged Paul Hodes
to defend his inconsistent record on Iraq after the Democrat shifted his
position on this issue yet again.

"For the last year, Paul Hodes has insisted that American troops retreat
immediately in order to force the Iraqis to fend for themselves," Bosse
said. "Now Paul Hodes says the Iraqis have to step up in order for
American troops to come home. His position on Iraq is an inconsistent as
his support for our troops."

During last year's debate over emergency spending for ongoing operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hodes supported an earmark-laden bill pushed by
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and opposed efforts to trim the unrelated
spending. When Senate Republicans insisted on a clean military funding
bill, Hodes voted against it. During House debate over General David
Petraeus's proposed "Surge" strategy, Hodes belittled the idea as "too
little, too late."

"The only spending bill Paul Hodes has ever opposed was for ongoing
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now that the mission he opposed is
succeeding, Paul Hodes is changing his tune," Bosse continued. "We
deserve a Congress that supports our troops every day, and not just when
public opinion shifts in their favor."

Bosse issued his challenge at the beginning of a two-day campaign swing
through Sullivan, Grafton, and Coos Counties.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

Fellow Republican candidate Jennifer Horn has now started her own blog.  I think that's great.  Blogs are not only a chance for candidates to share their message directly with the most interested voters out there, but also an opportunity for voters to learn more about a candidate's priorities.

Jennifer, welcome to the blogosphere.

Hodes flip-flops on Iraq

Paul Hodes has flip-flopped on Iraq. He still is pushing for defeat and standing in the way of victory, but his reasons have changed.

It's frustrating to see Hodes continue to put the daily talking points he gets from Nancy Pelosi ahead of our national security.

Yes, Congressman, we want our troops to come home. But you have played games with their funding, and refused to support their mission. You have consistently pushed for a retreat from the frontlines of our battle with Islamic fascism, and you have supported an ill-conceived strategy that would destabilize the Middle East and leave the region at the mercy of our most extreme enemies.

Paul Hodes was wrong when he called the surge "too little, too late," he was wrong when he said we should give up the progress we've made by surrendering the field to the enemy, and he's wrong now.

From the Concord Monitor

A nice summary from yesterday's dedication ceremony in Hillsboro.


I wish they had also included the pictures from the paper in the online edition. They were inspiring.

Three votes behind

Ray Burton's advice to candidates is to campaign as if you're three votes behind.

I'm taking that advice to heart today with a campaign swing through the western part of the state.

I spent the morning on WKBK AM in Keene. Al Kulis was filling in for Dan Mitchell. We got a number of calls, dealing with immigration, the economy, and Medicare reimbursements.

We are on a very bumpy road to Newport, where Ray Burton is having a campaign event, and then we're spending the afternoon and evening in the Upper Valley.

Tomorrow, we're taking a tour of Sullivan County, and then starting another two-day swing through Coos County.

Another take on Heller vs. DC

Pejman Yousefzadeh, who knows more about many things than I do, including chess and the Supreme Court, also thinks yesterday's oral arguments were a good sign.

Reading the Tea Leaves at the Supreme Court

It's always a bad idea to get too excited about the tone of oral arguments at the Supreme Court, but this seems like a good sign.

Rights that cannot be enforced...

Ilya Somin makes a great point over at The Volokh Conspiracy that even a favorable ruling in Heller vs. DC does not mean that our rights will necessarily be protected:

Recognition of a "right that cannot be enforced" is exactly what the Court has often done in the field of property rights. As I noted in my last post, the Court - especially in recent years - has often held that individuals are entitled to protection for property rights under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause and other constitutional provisions. However, they have heavily deferred to the government in defining the scope of those rights, often effectively negating them as meaningful protections for individuals targeted by the state. For example, the Court has allowed government nearly unlimited authority to define the scope of what constitutes a "public use" justify condemnation of private property under the Fifth Amendment. Entrusting the political branches of government with the authority to define the scope of a constitutional right is much like giving wolves the power to determine how much access they will have to the chicken coop. The chickens - especially those who lack political influence over the wolfpack - are unlikely to last very long.

Which is why it's so important to elect Representatives in Congress who understand the importance of those rights.

Dedicated

We dedicated the Hillsboro Post Office this afternoon to Officer Jeremy Todd Charron.

Jeremy was a year or two behind my in school, and while we weren't especially close, our families know each other very well. His brother Andy was an instructor up at Pierce Lake, where we took swimming lessons every summer. The Charron family has been an important part of Hillsboro for all my life. Bob Charron ran the Bank of New Hampshire branch in town, served as a Selectman, and is truly one of the pillars of our community. Fran Charrron's role, while less public, was no less active. It's not hard to see where Jeremy learned his values.

Jeremy was truly dedicated to serving his community, state, and nation. He was a Marine. He was an Officer with the Epsom Police Department. And one August morning more than ten years ago, he was shot and killed in the line of duty.

Jeremy was an extraordinary young man, and I was honored to know him. What has always struck me is not just the sacrifice he made during what should have been a routine check on a parked car. It's that every routine stop for our police officers carries the same risk. Every day, these dedicated men and women go to work at their own risk. They accept this danger to keep us safe.

Senator Sununu joined us today for the ceremony. At the request of the Hillsboro Selectmen, he introduced legislation to name the Hillsboro Post Office for Jeremy Charron. I was working in his Senate office at the time, and can attest to the time and energy that John personally used to guide that bill into law. President Bush signed the bill the day after Christmas. I was home in Hillsboro with my family, and it was one of my proudest days working for the Senate.

We remember Jeremy by hanging a plaque at the Post Office. From now on, when the people of Hillsboro check the mail, they might glimpse that plaque. Bob Charron hopes we will think of Jeremy, but also of the men and women across our country who take the same risks every day. I will also remember the Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps playing the Battle Hymn of the Republican in the Hillsboro-Deering High School Gym.

Today, we remember Jeremy Todd Charron not just for his ideals, but for the dedication to put those ideals into action. That morning ten years ago, we lost not only a great young man, but also all the days with him between then and now, and all his days to come.

Thank you, Jeremy.

From Foster's Daily Democrat

I'm a little late linking to it, but Foster's had an on target editorial this Sunday on taxes and spending.

The Right of the People...

The Supreme Court hears oral arguments today in Heller vs. DC.

Instapundit has a number of good links on the case this morning.

Randy Barnett in the Wall Street Journal.

Robert Levy in the Boston Globe.

And here's the line of people waiting to get in to hear oral arguments.

Online Contributions now...online

Click here to contribute by PayPal or credit card, safely and securely.

Campaign Snapshot: St. Patrick's Day

The New Hampshire Wake Up Show with Ken Cail and Peter St. James.













The Wild Irish Breakfast













Grant with mentors Donna Sytek and John Sununu.













Host Bobby Stephen













The Bow-Dunbarton Republican Committee.

More from the Gold and Blue Star Moms

Granite Grok has many more pictures from this weekend's march.

Dispatch from Nashua

Top of the morning!

Just left Bernie Streeter's Wild Irish Breakfast, benefiting the PLUS Company. Great event. I'd get in trouble if I repeated half the jokes, and they've toned it down over the years.

Started the day on the radio, with Peter St. James and Ken Cail on the New Hampshire Wake Up Show in 107.7. They are broadcasting live from the Red Blazer in Concord to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Concord.

I was also on with Woody Woodland on WSMN in Nashua.

Next stop, Salem for the Ganley St. Patrick's Day Dinner at the Salem Boys and Girls Club. Good causes all day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Web Video: Rock This Town

Four weeks, 4,000 miles, and we're just getting started:

Campaign Snapshot

The Blue and Gold Star Mothers March at the State House in Concord.













After the March.













Addressing the YMCA's Youth in Government General Assembly.













Skip at Skip's Gun Shop in Bristol.













Pemi-Baker Valley Republican Committee Chairman Omer Ahern.

Video Diary

Grant addresses the Nashua City Republican Committee:

Free speech, free markets, and free trade.

Greg Mankiw in the New York Times this morning writes about the politics of free trade.

New Leadership for the Republican Party, and the Nation

Bobby Jindal is showing the way in Louisiana.

Busy Day in Concord

Spent this morning with the Gold and Blue Star Mothers in support of the troops in combat overseas.  Listening to mothers who've lost their sons reminds us how little we have to give to enjoy our freedoms, and how much others have sacrificed.  It was very moving,

I also had the chance to address the YMCA's Youth in Government Program at the State House.  I was a Y&G student in high school, and it meant a lot to me to be able to come back to the program and speak a little about how what I learned in those three days a year helped me everyday in my adult life.

I also had a chance to stop in quickly at the Leadership Institute's grassroots training seminar at New Hampshire Technical Institute.  As I arrived, they were talking about setting up campaign blogs.  Seems like it's helpful to post pictures and video.  Great idea.  We'll have pictures and video from today's event soon.

Off to Plymouth.

Video Diary

Grant addresses the Sunrise Rotary Club of Concord:

Belknap County GOP Meeting

Skip from Granite Grok fame reports on this week's Belknap County GOP Meeting.

Also, Doug suggests a great way to spend a snowy Saturday morning. I'll see you there.

Taxing the Middle Class to Pay for Runaway Spending

Drew Cline weighs in on Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter's record breaking tax increase.

Hodes Sets Record; Votes for Largest Tax Increase in History

UPDATED with audio.

(Washington, DC) Congressman Paul Hodes set a record this week by voting for the largest tax increase in American history. Republican challenger Grant Bosse says the tax hike is a direct result of Hodes support for runaway federal spending.

"Paul Hodes has shown no respect for taxpayer dollars. The budget he approved will increase taxes by $683 billion next year," Bosse said. "That's going to cost New Hampshire taxpayers $3200 apiece."

The Pelosi Budget that Hodes supported will increase current taxes on families and senior citizens, reduce child tax credits, and reinstate the Death Tax, which alone will cost American taxpayers over $180 billion. The Pelosi Budget also contains over 11,000 earmarks, costing
$16 billion next year.

"This Congress has lost control of the federal budget. Now they want to raise taxes on children, seniors, and working families to pay for this spending spree," Bosse added. "Paul Hodes said he was going to change Washington. He didn't tell us that it would be by raising taxes more
than anyone in history."

Grok This Town

Granite Grok is on the case of health care reform.  Markets over mandates.

The Clegg-Lynch Wellness Plan

Bob Clegg makes the case for more mandates.  I remain unconvinced.

Dispatch from Nashua

Great meeting with the Nashua Republican Committee. We had 30 people there, including Theresa Drabinowicz. Theresa was a Democratic State Representative for 34 years, and as an anti-tax, pro-life Democrat, she was never afraid to stand up to her party's leadership.

Theresa didn't miss a vote in 34 years, and when spinal surgery threatened to keep her from attending sessions at the State House, she chose not to run again. This year, she finally realized that she's a Republican, and we're glad to have her.

If you make Skittles illegal, only criminals will have Skittles

The Nanny State really needs a time out.  Just sit in the corner until you realize what you did wrong:

Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate.

The New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a districtwide school wellness policy, said school spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo.

If John Lynch and Bob Clegg wants to take us a on trip down Wellness Boulevard, it's good to know where we will end up.  You can have my Skittles when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

From the Laconia Citizen

Grant and Frank Guinta both addressed the Belknap County Republican Committee last night:

Grant Bosse, who is running for the 2nd District congressional seat preceded Guinta by giving a brief address to county Republicans about his own campaign.

Bosse, who severed as a staff member for Sen. John E. Sununu, is one of four Republican candidates seeking the seat now filled by Paul Hodes.

"Congress is broken and I'd like to fix it," said Bosse, who advocated a return to the core of democracy concerning national defense and economic stability though responsible governmental spending, among other things.

On a personal note, Bosse attributed much of his success and coming to politics to the late House Minority Leader Michael Whalley. Like many Republicans from around the state, both Bosse and Guinta had attend Whalley's funeral last week.